MOCAtv chooses Chile to film episode of Global Street Art

MOCAtv, a Youtube channel initiative funded by the Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles, has set their sights on the Chilean port city of Valparaíso.

Their online mini-series incorporates brief documentaries under the title ‘Global Street Art.’ In mid-April the team collected footage in Chile for a future documentary about the country’s beloved port town.

This is Chile spoke with the head filmmaker of Global Street Art’s Chile project, Andrés Mardones, just after filming in Valparaíso.

“Ethel Seno, the curator of MOCAtv, contacted me after seeing [another] video clip that I made in Valparaíso,” Mardones said. “She asked me if I wanted to collaborate with MOCAtv.”

Excitedly Mardones jumped at the opportunity and suggested highlighting artists like Basco/Vazko, because this artist “began in the streets and later passed into the gallery circuit.”

He also suggested the street artist TOMBO, who is part of the WISDOM graffiti crew. “They have been working together for almost 20 years,” Mardones said.
One of the street art capitals of the world

Valparaíso’s rich history of street art enthralls visitors and attracts international attention as one of the street art capitals of the world.

In late 2012, for example, the city attracted over 70 street artists from Chile and Latin America for the country’s first street art festival, Polanco Graffestival. The festival covered the working class neighborhood of Cerro Polanco with a fresh and vibrant coat of paint.

Now visitors to Cerro Polanco can take a trip up the city’s only vertical funicular (all of the other funiculars are on an incline) to the top of the hill, then ramble down on foot, exploring the hill’s incredible murals.

Besides Cerro Polanco, Mardones also recommended Cerro Alegre and Cerro Concepción for other iconic examples of the cities street art.

“Valparaíso is a beautiful city, it’s full of inspiration and history. It’s a city that is iconic for the whole world,” Mardones described. “No one can come to Chile without stopping in Valparaíso.”

Catch the episode

Currently on MOCAtv you can watch installments of Global Street Art shot in Libya, Lebanon, and Palestine. Coming soon are videos filmed in Indonesia, Mexico, Ecuador, and Japan. The film shot in Valparaíso will be released on MOCAtv at some point in May.